presidential retreat when donated to the u.s. government but she didn't foresee a president trump. thanks for being part of my program this week. i will see you next week. >> good morning, i'm brian stelter. this is "reliable sources." our weekly look at story behind the story. news, pop culture get me. we are in flint, michigan right now, a few blocks away from the site of tonight's cnn democratic debate, live inside the hall at the light, focusing attention on the toxic water crisis in flint. did the national media miss a story until too late? two local reporters tell me how they helped uncover the truth, later this hour. also -- as the gop shatters, peggy noonan's words, shatters donald trump's off the record meeting with "the new york times" becoming a hot campaign issue. who is right and who is wrong here?

plus, msnsnbc scrutinized. how the press is portraying and shaping this frenzied primary process. trump, clinton, sanders, all had wins last night but it was ted cruz who arguably had the best night winning two states and helping bill his case against trump. the week ahead going to be dizzying with more primaries, two democratic debates and a big gop face-off. let get right to three insiders. cnn tonight host don lemon, one of the questioners, mark preston, executive editor of cnn politics and washington, david gregory, former moderator of "meet the press." for a while ted cruz underestimated by some segments of the media, it's been about marco rubio and expectation that rubio will be the establishment choice and he'll come through in the end, no matter what happens

with donald trump after the super tuesday wins by cruz and super saturday, is that over? can he no longer be underestimated by political talking heads. >> certainly. but some due to his own fault. the self-inflicted wounds of the dirty tricks that he played in iowa, and then onward into south carolina. his campaign is very disciplined, but they put the train off the trabs a little bit. they have seem to get it back on the tracks. one thing about ted cruz is interesting. as much as he feels he is being attacked by the mainstream media or not taken seriously he does do a lot of news conferences and willing to take questions and you don't see that often from candidates, certainly those running for president. >> let's discuss tonight and why we're in flint. you've been in debate prep. what makes the debate tonight different from all of the others we've seen? >> the obvious reason, water crisis in flint, michigan. a big reason that we're here. as a matter of fact, one of the campaigns, the clinton campaign, when dnc wanted more debates

they suggested flint, michigan. >> hillary clinton first came out and said, i'll have more debates but if you have one in pli flint. >> yesterday, handing out water meeting the people of flint, michigan, wonderful people. but that's the main reason we're here, it's din ticktive of what's happening around the country, mark can attest, people feel they are left behind in the current economic situation in our country. and also, for this horrible situation that's happened with the water. people who feel in many ways they don't have a voice and they have forgotten. what does it feel like to be volunteering yesterday? i'm not trying to brag about us being out there yesterday but it was shocking to see. the closest thing i can compare this city to is new orleans after katrina, very different situation but similar sense of aband abandonment. >> someone who is a resident of louisiana, a grew up in louisiana, volunteered after hurricane katrina and volunteering yesterday, i wanted to give more time. this is honestly not to be out there because cnn is hering but

it actually i got more out of it and the volunteers get more out of it than the people here. they need it, but the people here are resilient, strong, thankful and i have to say that i was very proud to work for a company yesterday that afforded its employees the opportunity to get out and help the people of michigan and i'm sure we can do a lot more and also like to do a lot more. people are wonderful. >> donation of water bottles. david gregory, i think there's something to be said about the national media spotlight whenever a political spotlight can reach a story like this plint water disaster. we'll talk later whether the president was too late to the story what happen do you make of the fact it came up briefly in the gop debate, that was a few days ago in detroit. obviously this water crisis will get more attention tonight on the democratic side. >> well, because so often what's truly important in our country and in our world doesn't often feel as urgent. so it's important but not urgent and therefore we get caught up, especially covering politics and

the kind of outrage of the moment. we certainly get caught up in who's up, who's down, analyzing the process of the race. and when there aren't easy answers. i mean, whether it's poverty generally or more specifically the issue of flint, it deserves more attention and sustained attention but that's not often as much as we say it's important, not often what really captivates us or captivates voters. i mean how often do you look at public opinion surveys that say education is most important issue, and yet we tend not to cover it as deeply because people don't pay as much attention to it. >> mark, tell us about how this debate came together. it was unusual the clinton said yes, i'll have more debates, i'll meet you, bernie sanders, if you come to flint and cnn got involved, local news organizations? >> right. so interestingly enough, there had been a call by the sanders campaign to have more debates and i think that the clinton campaign, i mean, it's no secret they were okay only having six

debates and okay with that and the dnc was okay with that, but as we saw sanders build momentum, had the big win in new hampshire, there was an understanding there there needed to be more debates and the debate will be a lot different than the other debates that we've had so far. look we're here for a reason. if anybody, just turn off your tv, after the show, go and turn on your faucet, turn it off, realize you cannot use your water. >> imagine that. feels worse, not to compare the two -- >> katrina. >> katrina. the water's right there. this has gone on longer, happening since 2014. here we are in 2016. the water is there for you to drink and use but you can't use it, and the folks here are getting huge water bills from the water company, they're still having to pay water bills but can't use the water. it's really insulting, in a way. >> david -- >> what i think is so important about the debate tonight, what's so important about the timing of this tragedy in flint, whether you are conservative or liberal,

republican or democrat, you under stand that government plays an essential role in delivering basic foundational services to its people, and clean water is one of them. we turn on our faucet, expect it to be healthy enough to drink and not poison or sicken our children. this is fundamental accountability and in this way, this when the spotlight of the media can really help. the spotlight of a presidential campaign can only help to really enforce accountability because this is not an overly partisan issue. can become politicized and partisan but fundamentally it's about who is responsible for what government is doing and should do and it's most basic level which is to provide adequate resources like this. >> still talking about this debate tonight. let's look at schedule a little bit for the next few days. another democratic debate later on univision, "the washington post" is sponsoring and cnn will summual cast it wednesday. thursday, i gop debate in miami on cnn.

david, you were outspoken on twitter the other day about the raucous crowd at last gop debate on fox news in detroit. you said the crowd was disruptive to the proceedings. do you think we have to reconsider actually having audiences at these debates. >> i do. i don't see the point. i don't mean to sound refl righteous about it, i understand it can create a sense of event, you you can instantly focus group the idea of how certain responses are playing. and you know, look, i think it's generally okay if you you have a debate where you have a candidate playing to the audience a little bit. but there's a point, for me the other night, they become disruptive. people mugging for the camera in the background, you have people disrupting both the candidates and the questioners. i just thought that was kind of pointless. and it was a huge crowd. and i just don't really think that serves. the high ratings for the debate is about the nature of the campaign and the candidates themselves. and them going after each other engaging each other, that's not

going to change because you add the crowd. >> 17 million viewers for the fox debate, highest debate rating in almost three months. mark, the argument for crowds instant focus group, it creates a sense of scale and donors come and see their candidates, right? >> but, i agree with david that the train can go off the tracks and -- >> go off the tracks. >> but i would say when you have an audience, if the audience is kept in check, what it does is it puts the candidates on the stage under more pressure. if you're running for president of the united states, i do think you've need to feel the pressure of having an audience out there hanging on every word. what we've seen -- >> interesting. >> we've seen the trump -- i don't know how to explain it -- but. >> i'll get you a dictionary. >> trump, maybe that's a new phrase. but the ongoing fighting between trump and rubio, i was watching with my daughter the other

night, she's 11 and i told her to fall asleep i didn't want her to engage in it. there are times during the debates you want the candidates to feel the pressure of having to answerer a question and not in a quiet studio where they can think easier. >> the rnc had to escort three people out, the police had to get involved thursday. >> i would agree with mark. i think mark -- >> go ahead, david. >> i think crowd control is important. we see it's possible to do that. i think it's a crowd control issue. >> let me ask you one more question, david, before i have to go. cnn's dylan buyers broke this yesterday, he reported that donald trump might have broken the rules of the debate. let me read, his campaign manager went directly on the stage to meet with trump during commercial break and as in previous debates the were informed they were not allowed

to communicate with the campaign staff during commercials breaks. trump handing a fax, maybe it was given to him by his campaign manager. is this a big deal to have trump up on stage talking to his aides because fox later had to let the other candidates also speak with their aides in order to create fairness? >> i don't know. i'd have to sit with that a little bit. my initial react, i don't think it's a huge deal. i think if they have an opportunity to talk to their team during that -- i don't know, maybe it may become less spontaneous but there's enough debates now. i don't think it's keeping trump from shooting from the hip here during these debates. >> but if the rules are the rules, right, another example -- >> that's what they agreed to. it's a rule for the party, then to enforce these things. from that point of view, if they agree you shouldn't do it, you shouldn't do it. >> they break the rules all the time. they go over the time limit. you heard wolf, you gentlemen

agree to the rules and now you're breaking them. i don't know how big a deal it is but it's interesting to watch. >> thank you all for being here. appreciate it. >> thanks. coming up -- more previews of the democratic debate and the gop debate a few days away. why i think the country is united, not in politics, not in patriotism but something else. that's coming up after the break. at ally bank, no branches equals great rates. it's a fact. kind of like bill splitting equals nitpicking. but i only had a salad. it was a buffalo chicken salad. salad.

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you may have ibs. bloating? ask your doctor if non-prescription ibgard is right for you. ibgard calms the angry gut. available at cvs and walgreens. welcome back to flint, michigan, site of tonight's democratic debate on cnn. we are close by at university of michigan, flint library here, front river behind us. i watch a week's worth of television news, read a week's worth of facebook posts this country is unite bud uniteded by fear. i know we've heard a lot about angry voters this election cousin. anger's cousin is fear. think about it. democrats are afraid trump's got a real shot at presidency. some are deeply afraid of what trump's rise represents about america. when i went to a bernie sanders rally in michigan last night, i could feel the anxiety right away when sanders invoked trump's name. the tone of the crowd changed almost instantly. democrats are not the only ones

on pins and needles. republicans who oppose trump are afraid he's blowing up the party he loved. formed up about jamie jonsson who tweeted this, my party is committing suicide on national television. trump supporters are somewhat fearful as well. they're afraid that these victories going to be snatched away by the mitt romneys of the world. when i listened to romney's speech, he sure sounded scared of a trump win. it as if we are all watching a horror movie together. but we cannot agree on who the villain is. now all of this anxiety revolves around trump. let's analyze trump coverage with a reporter for real clear politics and chief of bright bart news network. thanks for being here. >> thanks, brian. >> rebecca, let me start with you, for your take on what happened at the trump -- the debate on thursday night, of course, trump brought up his

hands, then brought up another part of his anatomy, it seemed like as if the entire election could be summed up in trump's comment about himself. it was about strength, potency, the opposite of impotence, whatever that would be. i wondered if you thought the press made too much or too lit the out of the shocking moment at the debate. >> i don't think they made too little about it. we heard a lot about moment in the days that followed and for good reason. this is how donald trump has run is entire campaign, cam tured not only the media's attention in the election cycle but the american electorate and especially republicans. he is look a train wreck. you can't look away. it makes a lot of sense we have covered this in the way that we have, it makes a lot of sense what we're talking about. what we also saw at the debate the other candidates playing into that dynamic, playing into donald trump's dynamic trying to catch the media's attention by saying things that are

outrageous, a little bit unexpected and especially marco rubio has been taking the same tact, which has been interesting to watch. >> as editor and chief of bright bart you take a position, supportive of trump, some call your site trump bart. i wonder your reaction to the hands comment and anything trump could do that would actually cause your website to shift its tone? >> i think we've covered trump a lot fairly, more fairly than you're giving us credit for. politico called us the daily cruz as well, people are constantly trying to back us into a corner when you've got competitors like national review who dedicated resources trying to destroy trump. we have been critical, top media reporters like john nolte critical of what trump did in the debate. i'll be critical of it right now. he can't do that. he can't talk about his penis size if he wanted to be the next

president of the united states. he can't flip-flop on h-1b visas because, contrary to what people say about trump voters, a lot of them are extremely highly informed. he had a flip-flop in the debate on h-1b visas, imbrags, and that caused concern. what he did, brian, after he -- yeah. sorry. >> well, i was going to ask reb if there's a split in media centers. there are outlets clearly anti-trump and sites like bright bart anti-rubio. rebecca's reaction. do you divide emblematic as a party ace whole. >> this is ones of the things that happened in the election saying. that we haven't been talk enough about. we talk about establishment republicans the moderate wing of the party revolting against don

trump but we're not look at conservative side also revolting against trump. you have supporters of cruz, glenn beck, warning people about voting for trump and supporting him. these are not establishment republicans. this is most conservative wing of the party. so there's absolutely division playing out here. national review cover another example. you have erick erickson coming out against trump. this is no the something either. erick erickson invited trump last year in georgia and so this is something that maybe has gone unnoticed here in the mainstream media but it's absolutely a division within the republican party that i think is going to be very important moving forward. >> we need to mention something that happened several days ago. an incident at a trump rally a secret service officer and photographer there for "time" magazine, the photographer wanted to get closer to protesters at the rally, he cursed at secret service agent trying to push to get access. the agent seemed to use a chokehold to pull him to the ground. we can show part of the video. it's very disturbing video.

i wonder, from breath of you, reactions. is his something, i can state as a fact we would not have seen this at any other rally at a in other candidate. what does it tell you about trump, even if he has nothing to do with the altercation, what does it tell you about the rallies? >> it tells me a few things. like at this from perspective of a journalist. to be atto get outside of the press pen, talk to people in the crowd, observe what is happening and not limited by security, that's very important to consider and this photographer was trying to do his job and trying to get shots that represented what was happening at the event. but i think we also when look at rallies broadly, it's a very, very unique dynamic that we're seeing own with donald trump we talk a lot about the anger his voters feel and what this reminds me of george wallace rallies in early '60s, hunter s. thompson used to describe them as a janis joplin concert.

what george wallace did was similar to what we see donald trump doing today. he heckled his hecklers, got the crowd very riled up and we saw protests break out and sometimes violence as well. >> is there any responsibility on the part of trump when he points at press, calls them dishonest and disgust, dozener does he have any responsibility of what happens at the rallies if reporters are criticized by the crowd or man handled by a secret service officer? >> in the video, if you look at it closely, i think the reporter is just as much a part of this as secret service. the reporter ends up putting his hand around secret service member's neck. i haven't scrutinized it that closely. >> some have said that happened after he was showing what the secret service officer did to him. certainly the "time" photographer acknowledged some responsibility here. >> there's a lot of responsibility and this blows up the myth any donald trump cov. >> coverage is positive. look where he is.

if he can do what he did after super tuesday where he rose up, positive, underbeat, took questions from the press, unlike hillary clinton who will not talk to the press, i don't think he's going to have much of a problem. >> the press conference strategy interesting after super tuesday, super saturday, all guarantees more live coverage. saw ted cruz on "face the nation" news conference that coverage trump's coverage giving him a massive inkind contribution. is that excessive coverage of trump to the detriment of other candidates like kasich and cruz. >> sure. the data we've seen on the aur time that he has received reflects that he is getting more air time than any of the other candidates, brian. the economyists looked at how many minutes network newscast, just abc, cbs, nbc, covered donald trump over the past year through the end of february. he received more than 400 minuted of news coverage and ted cruz and marco rubio combined only received about 100 minutes

of news coverage. he certainly gets more. as i said earlier, it hard to look away from donald trump. he's very entertaining, very good for ratings. >> not only -- >> the news networks, the fact the press conference dynamic for him is very, very clever. a new way to draw people in without saying much. as we know, when he gives press conferences and answers questions and gives interviews he skirts around the tough questions and doesn't give us answers we're looking for anyway. >> trump is the story right now. he is the story. we want to hear from him but there has to be a balance and make sure we hear from other candidates. rebecca, alex. coming up on "reliable sources," the flint water crisis, the recent we're here. water is still brown. residents are still seeing red. we have reporters who first put it down in black and white. stay tuned.

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welcome back to "reliable sources." behind me here is the flint river, the source of this city's newest scars. the ongoing water disaster here, and it is a disaster a man-made disaster. a case of government failure. but is it a case of media failure as well? we should talk about that. april 2014 is when flint switched its water supply to the flint river to save money. residents started complaining right away about odor of the water and rashes but the people in charge downplayed that. they ignored warnings over a year. the city of flint urged residents to stop drinking the water after alarmingly high level of lead found in october 2015. in january of this year, michigan governor rick snyder declared a state of emergency here, and the water is still not safe to drink. some of the national reporters here now openly acknowledged that their news outlets were

slow, late to recognize the scope of this disaster. but local beat reporters are feel like they sounded the alarm and it just wasn't heard. i'm honored to be joined by two of them now. an investigative reporter for the aclu of michigan, he followed the story for months and helped blow the lid off of it. also a reporter who covered the flint water crisis early on as well for "flint journal" and live. appreciate you being here and on set this morning. i want to know when it was clear to both of 0 you this was a crisis, ron? >> i'd say we got indications almost immediately that there were problems with the water. as soon as we switched from getting lake huron water from the city of detroit we started hearing from people once the flint river was being used there was problems with the smell, the taste. >> right away you knew?

>> i knew there was something wrong i didn't know what it was. we started to follow it at that point and as time went on, we got more and more indications that different things were wrong with the water. kurt, was this a media failure on some level, a national media failure, not to heed alarms early on? >> well, in july of 2015 we published a memo, an internal memo leaked from the u.s. epa that sounded the alarm. one home there was more than 2 1/2 times the level of lead that it takes to be classified as hazardous waste. >> wow. >> shocking. >> this must have been scary for you to be covering. >> it was -- well, one thing you don't want to be wrong about something like this. and i think, to your point, were people slow, in my experience, sometimes the bigger the story, the longer it takes to really get traction because people -- you don't want to be wrong to say -- >> i'm curious, flint journalist

does it seem fear being wrong is so big? >> we tried to take it as it came along bit by bit. this wasn't a situation where overnight we knew they was lead in the water crisis. >> knew something going on. let me ask you, why does the aclu have an investigative reporter? this is the only state wir the aclu has a position like yours. you come of this from a point of view as reporting, right? >> yes. i was hired to investigate specifically issues around the state's extreme emergency manager law. and the reason that they hired someone like me they saw how much mainstream media is cutting back on investigative reporting. it takes a lot of time, it's expensive to do. and they saw a void and a chance to help fill it, and applied for a grant and hired me to do that. >> interesting. by the end of the year rachel madd maddow, msnbc, national news outlets starting to cover the story in more detail.

with the debate, there's a sena national spotlight. what's part of the story we don't know the answer to. >> this is still yet to play out and a lot of it has to do with the responsibility for the crisis happening in the first place. and that's going to play out in the next coming weeks and as members from michigan, including the governor, called to testify before congress. >> really appreciate you both being here. thank you so much for speaking with me about this because it's an example of the slow motion disasters that happen where local media, local boots on the ground, are the first to know, the first to alert us. thank you very much. back with more "reliable sources" after a quick break. my school reunion's coming fast.

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undermine his public stance on immigration. the suggestion here is that trump is telling voters he'll deport 11 million undocumented immigrant but was telling editors in new york something else. back in january, donald trump had this meeting with opinion writers and time's boss. the session was partly on the record, which means reporters could quote trump and partly off the record, meaning no quotes. once a reporter agrees to keep something off the record it almost always stays off the record unless the source agrees to put itten 0 the repocord. smelling blood in the water, challengers bounced. >> i would never release off the record conversations. i don't think it's fair, frankly to do that to anybody. >> on the issue of off the record, that's not up to the new york times. that's up to you, donald. if you tell the new york times to release the audio, they will do it, we can exactly see what your true views are on

immigration. >> he didn't say, easy solution, simply release the tape. >> so what's right call here? joining me now, kelly mcbride, vp of academic programs at pointer and paul farhe. should "the new york times" be having any off the record conversations with a presidential candidate at all? >> so, this is a really, really tough question to answer because in this day and age of campaigns, the editorial board meets with the candidate because they want to figure out what type of endorsement to give the candidate. and those are always written in the editorial voice of the paper at large, not in an individual's voice. >> right. >> when making that decision they're trying to figure out what do they really need to know. in a primary, it's so much theatrics right now that they want to get to know the candidate beyond the stage theatrics. so they're really in a tough position. i am deeply uncomfortable with

an off the record conversation with the presidential candidate but i also know that they happen all the time because editorial boards feel like they can't get at the real candidate unless they grant this sort of off the record status. so, it's a quandary. >> let me ask you, paul, you've had lots of the off the record conversations for your stories. you do it all the time. isn't something fishy here? it leaked out, apparently someone at "new york times" talked to somebody and told buzzfeed this recording existed? does that seem fishy to you? >> it doesn't seem fishy, it seems inevitable. there were 30 people involved in the conversation between the editorial board. >> right. >> the editor, and the newsroom. inevitably something like this is going to look, also recordings of this, as you know, anything digital can be replicated numerous times. i just think it's going to happen and there's really no way

in some ways to stop it. >> "times" editor thinks there's too much hand wringing going on in the issue but it's a campaign issue. also maybe educational to people about how often a source, even presidential candidates, are speaking off the record. kelly, paul, a quick break. stick around. another topic coming up after the break. msnbc and questions about diversity on the air. stay with me. i'll be right back. e beautiful, unless you have allergies. then your eyes may see it differently. only flonase is approved to relieve both itchy, watery eyes and congestion. no other nasal allergy spray can say that. when we breathe in allergens our bodies react by over producing six key inflammatory substances that cause our symptoms. most allergy pills only control one substance. flonase controls six. and six is greater than one. complete allergy relief or incomplete. let your eyes decide. flonase. 6>1 changes everything. you're an at&t small business expert? sure am. my staff could use your help staying in touch with customers. at&t can help you stay connected.

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welcome back to flynn, michigan, here for cnn's clinton/sanders face-off tonight, just about eight hours away. almost every story about the democratic race does involve rice. clinton hung on to the lead among minorities. can sanders make inroads? increasingly diverse country deserves and needs a diverse press corps why some media insiders are asking, what is going on at msnbc?

melissa harris-perry and alex wagner's gone. al sharpton's show moved to the weekend. in the absence of the hosts some are wondering if there's more than isolated series of cases going on. >> i'm sad to see her go, just like alex wagner before her, but i'm even sadder because i don't think these are isolated cases. angerman jose diaz ballard another voice dis appeappearing english language airwaves. >> now you noticed that graph you notice nbc so white. his story asked, is msnbc so white? using hashtag trending on twitter. the departure of melissa harris-perry raises the issue. paul, sum up your reporting for ussen the issue here is complicated, melissa harris-perry had a beloved show on the air for four years, msnbc gave her a platform, they also

took it away, it seems like, it was marginalized and after she spoke up about it, her show's officially canceled. tell us what your reporting has found about this. >> well, msnbc has made a big change in its orientation. it's going cover politics full time, just like cnn and fox is doing. it has downplayed the talk shows, discussion shows, like melis melissa harris-perry's. in that transition, it has rearranged its schedule, got rid of al sharpton, got rid of other daily shows that were not working particularly well in ratings for more newsy coverage. and melissa harris-perry was one of the casualties of this. >> kelly, this is part of a broader issue about diversity in media, is it not? >> absolutely. and part of the problem is that the media, all of us, have done a bad job with diversity in general. so then when you make

programmatic changes, like paul is describing, and those changes happen to affect some of the only people of color that you've brought on the air, people jump to conclusions. and sometimes those conclusions are merited. >> this is cnn breaking news. >> i'm wolf blitzer in flint, michigan. we are very sad to report. nancy reagan, the former first lady of the united states, has passed away. very sad moment for all of us, especially those of us who covered nancy reagan so many of those years, those wonderful years when her husband was president of the united states. nancy reagan has passed away at the age of 94. we're going to have extensive coverage of mrs. reagan beginning with a look back at her remarkable, remarkable years. >> reporter: ronnie and nancy, truly an american love story.

>> i can't imagine marriage being any other way but the way that ronnie's and mine was, and i guess that's unusual. >> a little bit of a miracle, too, right? something in the gods brought you together? >> uh-huh. something in the gods brought you together. >> uh-huh. fortunately. >> a relationship not based on politics, or power, but simply admiration and affection. ♪ we're going a long long way >> born ann francis robins in new york city, she grew up in chicago, known by the nickname nancy. as an adult, she headed west to hollywood to become an actress. >> she signed with mgm. she became part of that family. >> at first, nancy davis was busy. but in 1949, she found her name on a list of suspected communist sympathizers, in danger of being blacklisted from the business. the person on the list turned out to be another actress with

the same name. but nancy wanted reassurance. she turned to a friend for help, who set up a meeting with the president of the screen actors guild, a dashing leading man named ronald reagan. and thus began one of hollywood's and washington's most enduring romances. in fact, one of her last screen appearances was playing opposite her future husband in a movie called "hellcats of the navy." soon after, they wed. they raised a family, including their children, patti and ron jr., and her husband's two children, maureen and michael, to his previous marriage to jane wyman. in 1986, he was elected governor of the nation's largest state, california. nancy was always at his side and always gazing at him with that loving stare. >> it was for real. that wasn't an actress.

the adoration that they had for each other. >> congratulate you, sir. >> i don't remember thinking anything except, my gosh, here he is. and he's president. >> myrony. >> myron. >> i after her husband's presidential inauguration, nancy reagan's signature was appearing in designer gowns, especially red ones. she also redecorated the white house. both moves drawing heavy criticism. but she had her own special grit, especially after an assassin's bullet struck her husband. she never left the hospital. few knew then how close the president came to dying. just a couple of months into his first term. >> yes. >> touch and go? >> yes, it was. i almost lost him. >> she also battled breast cancer and survived. through it all, she had many admirers, and some critics, too. chief among them, her husband's former chief of staff, who wrote

a blistering book about her, including the fact that she sometimes consulted an astrologer. >> he has chosen to attack my wife and i don't take kindly upon that at all. >> she also used her influence to launch an anti-drug program, reduced to a simple phrase. when a young girl asked for advice and the first lady said simply just say no. >> i didn't mean that that was the whole answer, obviously. but it did serve a purpose. >> after she and her husband left washington, she needed her stamina more than ever, after ronald reagan was diagnosed with alzheimer's. >> it's sad to see somebody you love and been married for so long, and you can't share memories. that's the sad part. >> through it all, she never lost her optimism. >> do you ever feel that fate treated you badly? >> no. uh-uh. no. when you balance it all out, i've had a pretty fabulous life.

>> in 2004, president ronald reagan died. in one of her final public appearances, the celebration of the centennial of ronald reagan's birth, she said -- >> i know that ronnie would be thrilled and is thrill ed to hae all of you share in his 100th birthday. it doesn't seem possible, but that's what it is. >> nancy reagan, a strong woman in her own right, remembered also for her steady, unflinching devotion to her husband, both in and out of the spotlight. >> now very sad news. nancy reagan, unfortunately, has passed away at the age of 94. very sad moment. she became the first lady of the united states on january 20th, 1981, when her husband, ronald reagan, became the 40th president of the united states. david gergen was among the aides

working for president reagan, joining us on the phone right now. david, a very sad moment. some immediate reflections of nancy reagan. >> well, wolf, as you know -- and you were there for much of it, too -- it was one of the great love stories of american political life. as a couple, they came together in the early 1950s and it changed ronald regulagan's life. he was ending his movie career, but his first marriage had ended badly. he was lonely and he was uncertain of himself. and he met nancy and, together, they went through the '50s together, which bonded very, very closely. he became much more conservative during those years. and then, of course, he had the goldwater campaign in 1964. coming to the presidency itself, she was his anchor through those presidential years. much of the success that he had, he attributed to her.

you know, he had -- he could go out and take on the lions, wherever they might be. coming home to nancy at night was a very important part of his well-being as a person. they were very private. they didn't make a lot of -- some presidents want to be on the phone all the time. you can think about lbj, or bill clinton. they were not. they wanted to be together. and she didn't try to guide his presidency, but if you were on staff, you kept your eye on nancy, because she could read him better than anyone else. ken guberstein used to call nancy every morning before he came to ask about how is he doing? how is he feeling? what can we do to make his life better today? and she was really helpful to that. and very importantly, she was also a great force for ronald reagan pursuing arms control with the soviet union. at the time when he first came in, he was a big conservative,

had a major defense built up. she always kept her eye on the larger prize, and that was peace. and she was -- she had a great deal of influence on him. he surprised a great many people when he wanted to sit down and negotiate with the soviets and when he had gorbachev there. >> it was an amazing love story. wasn't it, david? >> yes, it certainly was. to this day, you can, in your mind -- if you remember ronald reagan, you also remember her by his side, staring up with that wonderful gaze that she was totally absorbed. they were totally devoted to each other. i think they each helped the other come to a much, much better place in life. and just so many times, she was -- she was the one, because she cared about him so deeply, who ensured that the staff didn't overschedule him, that they paid attention to his age.

you know, he was a little more fragile as the years went on. and she wanted to care for him. she did that with great, loving care all through the alzheimer's years. she continued to keep that alive at the reagan library through conferences and that sort of thing. number of people have been through there many times and nancy was always the one that kept it alive. >> we just got a tweet from michael reagan. let me read it for our viewers. i am saddened by the passing of my stepmother, nancy reagan. she is once again with the man she loved. god bless. that, from michael reagan moments ago. the words are beginning to come in very, very quickly, the remembrances. nancy reagan, the former first lady of the united states, has passed away at the age of 94. david, he often would consult with her. although, even on -- as you point out, even on some of the

most important issues, but she never really stepped out and talked about national security. other issues like that. she was a much more private person. although, he had total confidence in her. >> she did not feel it was her place to stand out on the public issues. that began to change, that whole tradition of first ladies taking on causes -- of course, it goes all the way back to eleanor roosevelt but in modern times it was hillary clinton who became a very different kind of first lady. we've seen a lot of that since through michelle obama. but nancy was there more for him. she did have her causes, the "just say no" cause. but she thought her first and foremost duty was to be there with him. the other thing she did, wolf, she garnered his schedule and fought for arms control but she was the one who kept an eye on how well the people around

ronnie -- how loyal are they, how are they looking after him? are they really on the team? frankly, she was the one who said, you know, if you're not on the team, get this person out of ther there. >> major change when don regan was head of merrill lynch, came over as chief of staff in the second term and nancy just decided that he was not up to the job. and especially when iran-contra came along, she forced him out. she was the enforcer. that was a healthy thing. every president needs somebody around who will be the enforcer. >> we just got a statement from joann drake, the spokesperson on the reagan library. let me read it to you and our viewers. nancy davis reagan, former first lady of the united states, died at her home in los angeles at the age of